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Eldora
Speedway…
Four
Crown Nationals to feature
multiple divisions
Despite Title Name, September
Ritual Highlights Five Divisions
ROSSBURG,
OH (Sept. 14) –
Historically, the name remains as the Four Crown Nationals, but as has
been the
practice in recent years, the traditional fourth-week in September
event will
again offer five distinct divisions of racing on Eldora Speedway’s
.500-mile
clay oval over a two-night period; September 21 and 22.
Kicking off the
race-chaser’s dream
weekend on Friday night will be a full program for the winged Sprint
Cars of
the World of Outlaws as they make their final 2012 Eldora appearance;
along
with the UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) DIRTcar Modifieds in a
continuation
of their cumulative point chase.
Saturday’s
program will focus on
the Indianapolis, IN based United States Auto Club (USAC), with their
three
premier divisions on non-winged open wheel racing – Midget, Sprint Car
and
Silver Crown.
Established
in 1981, the Four Crown
Nationals was initially designed to showcase the USAC competition,
including
their now extinct Stock Car.
Since that
inaugural event, the USAC open wheeled divisions have shared three of
the four
crowns, with the remaining crown varying over the years. The World of
Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car series
came on board for the fourth crown in 2008, with the Modifieds joining
the fold
two years last year after a three-year absence.
Dubbed
‘Eldora’s favorite son’,
Jack Hewitt heads up the win list with an incredible 19 victories in
the 118
Four Crown feature events completed to date; and they have been
achieved in
four different classes. His
brightest
moment came in 1998 when he performed what was thought to be an
impossible fete
– feature wins in all four competing divisions (Midget, Sprint Car,
Silver
Crown, UMP DIRTcar Modified). In
total,
Hewitt, now retired from active driving due to racing related injuries,
has
three USAC Midget wins, five USAC Sprint Car wins, eight USAC Silver
Crown wins
and three UMP DIRTcar Modified wins on his Four Crown resume.
Sitting
back in a distant second
place on the win list is Dave Darland, with seven Four Crown trophies
(two USAC
Midget, one USAC Sprint and four USAC Silver Crown).
Darland will come into this year’s chase
as
the USAC Sprint Car point leader.
Young
driving sensation Kyle Larson
came close to duplicating Hewitt’s stunning accomplishment in last
year’s Four
Crown event as the diminutive California hot shoe swept all three USAC
divisions. Larson
hopes to defend those
wins, and more, this year; providing his commitment to the K &
N Pro Series
event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon do not
interfere.
Larson’s
2012 Four Crown attempt to
duplicate his 2011 fete will be with the Keith Kunz owned Midget,
Hoffman
Brothers owned Sprint Car and Tony Stewart Racing owned Silver Crown.
Completing
the busy weekend will be
a look back in time, as the cars of the Vintage American Race Cars
(VARC) will
be on display, and do some exhibition laps.
A
complete schedule of Four Crown
Nationals events, along with ticket information may be obtained by
assessing
the track website http://www.eldoraspeedway.com/ or by calling the
ticket
office (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours.
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